Coin-controlled ball release mechanism for pool tables



Nov. 6, 1951 P F WILHEM 2,574,363

COIN-CONTROLLED BALL RELEASE MECHANISMS FOR POOL TABLES Filed May 31, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 6, 1951 P. F. WILHEM 2,574,363

. COIN-CONTROLLED BALL RELEASE MECHANISMS FOR POOL TABLES Filed May 31, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 6, 1951 P. F. WILHEM COIN-CONTROLLED BALL RELEASE MECHANISMS FOR POOL TABLES Filed May 31, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTQR. QerrefM/fiem.

Patented Nov. 6, 1951 COIN-CONTROLLED BALL RELEASE MECHA- NISM FOR POOL TABLES Pierre F. Wilhem, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application May 31, 1949, Serial No. 96,168

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a coin-controlled ball release mechanism for a pool table, and important objects and advantages thereof are to provide a mechanism of the character described, which will function efliciently for automatically vending games of pool or pocket billards without the need of a constant attendant, which functions to successfully resist and frustrate any attempt to operate same in an improper manner by any known illicit methods, which requires no critical adjustments, which will quickly dispense the pocketed balls and thus reduce the elapsed time between games, and which embodies novel means for depositing the cue ball with the trapped object balls when the table equipped with the device is not in use.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a device of the class stated, Which is simple in its construction and arrangement, durable and efficient in its use, compact, positive in its action, attractive in appearance, and comparatively economical in its manufacture, installation, operation, and maintenance.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts herein specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that changes in the form, proportions, and details of construction may be resorted to that come within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure l is a top plan view of a pool table embodying a coin-operated ball release mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the improved ball release mechanism.

Figure 3 is an inner end view of the mechanism taken on line 33, Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a transverse cross sectional view, taken on line 4-4, Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal cross sectional View, taken on line 5-5, Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the mechanism, taken on line 6--6, Figure 2, showing the control elements disposed in the closing or looking positions.

Figure '7 is a similar view showing the control elements in the opening or releasing positions.

Figure 8 is also a similar View showing the positions of the control elements when the device is improperly manipulated.

Figure 9 is a side elevational view of the looking latch embodied in the invention.

The entire coin-controlled, ball release mechanism is attached and built into the foot end of the pool table, and is disposed centrally beneath the top of the latter. The table top virtually constitutes the top closure means for the greater part of the mechanism to render such covered part inaccessible and thereby twart attempts to manipulate the mechanism by illicit methods. The outer end portion of the mechanism projects a short distance beyond the foot end of the table, but such projection is not of extent to impede the movements of players using the pool table.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the improved coin-controlled ball release mechanism comprises a casing structure I, which, as abovestated, is built permanently into the foot end of a pool table 2, as illustrated in Figure 1.

The casing structure I is generally made of wood, and is constructed and shaped to form and provide a delivery box 3, a trapping chamber 4, and a reception gully 5.

The delivery box 3 is disposed at the outer end of the casing structure l, and a portion thereof projects beyond the foot end of the pool table '2 and has an open top, as clearly illustrated in Figure 1. The reception pully 5 is disposed at the inner end of the casing structure, and the trapping chamber 4 is positioned intermediate of the delivery box and the reception gully. The top of the pool table provides top closure means for the reception gully and for the trapping chamber.

The reception gully 5, at the inner end of the casing structure I, comprises a pair of fixed floor boards 6, which inclined laterally in opposed relation to each other. The adjacent low ends of the floor boards are spaced from each other to provide a passage therebetween, which passage 'l extends longitudinally with respect to the 1ongitudinal disposition of the pool table 2. The floor boards are positioned to provide a slight fall toward the outer end of the casing structure. The reception gully further includes a front wall 8 provided with a pair of apertures 9, and a rear wall lll provided with a pair of apertures II. A tube I2 extends from each of the pockets l3 of the pool table to respective apertures 9, II, in the walls 8 and It, in a manner to cause the pool balls to travel or roll by gravity movement from said pockets, through said tubes and apertures into the reception gully.

The front wall 8, of the reception gully 5, is provided with a ball opening [4, which is disposed centrally at the outer end of the gully passage 1'. The size of the ball opening is such that it will allow the travel therethrough of but a single or one pool ball at any one time.

The trapping chamber 4 comprises a pair of side walls l5 and It, a, front wall I1, and a rear wall 18, and further includes a bottom in the form of a trap door [9. The trap door is pivotally supported, intermediate of the ends thereof, on a transversely extending shaft suitably supported in the casing structure, to allow the seesaw or teeter movement of said tray door in the trapping chamber.

The inner portion of the trap door I9 projects inwardly beyond and is spaced from the lower edge of the rear wall l8 of the trapping chamber 4, and over-balances the outer portion of the trap door, whereby the latter is normally maintained in the level closing position, as shown in Figure 5. The closing movement of the trap door is limited by the abutment of the outer free end of the trap door against the lower and preferably recessed edge of the front wall ll of the trapping chamber. The. opening movement of the trap door is limited by the abutment of the inner end portion of the trap door against the lower edge ofthe rear wall |8 of the trapping chamber. The

over-balancing diiferential of the inner portion of the trap door with respect to the outer portion otjthe latter is such that the weight of at least two or more p001 balls is required on the outer portion of the trap door to automatically cause the shifting of the latter to the open position, as

shown in Figure "I.

A stop rod 2| is fixedly supported at the inner end of the trap door I9, and extends vertically 'upright from the latter. When the trap door is in the closed position, the upper free end of the stop rod extends only to the floor level of the gully passage 1 adjacent to the outer end of the latter. When the trap door is in the open position, the upper end portion of the stop rod projects a considerable distance through the passage 1 into the reception gully 5, for preventing the passing of pool balls through the ball opening M in the front wall 8 of the gully 5, for the purpose to be described.

A pair of adjustable sifter rails 22 are supported on the top of the front and rear walls l8; of the trapping chamber 4. The sifter rails are disposed horizontally in parallel spaced relation to each other with a slight outward fall, and extend from outer end of the gully passage to a, vertical well 23, which latter is disposed out- :wardly of the front wall I1, of the trapping chamber, and has'its lower end opening into the delivery box 3, as clearly illustrated in Figure 5.

The spaced relation of the sifter rails 22 is such that the object pool balls can pass through between the sifter rails and drop directly into the trapping chamber 4 onto the trap door 99. However, the cue ball, usually being of a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the object balls, cannot pass through between the sifter rails, but will travel or roll by gravity along the entire length of the sifter rails, and will drop into and through the well 23 to be deposited in the delivery box 3.

It will benoted that the delivery box 3, the trapping chamber 4, and the reception gully 5, are arranged in stepped relation to each other, with the trapping chamber being dis osed below the plane of the reception gully, and the delivery box being disposed below the plane of the trapping chamber.

A latch 2!!v is provided for securing the trap door l9 in the closed position. The latch is disposed in the upright position against the outside face of the sidewall l5. Thelower end of' the latch is pivotally connected and supported by means of apivoting bolt-25, which latter is fixed totha trapdoor, at a point. spaced outwardly-of the pivoting shaft 20 for the trap door, and projects laterally through a slot 26, in said side wall l5, so as not to impede the teetering movements of the trap door during the operation of the device.

The upper free end portion of the latch 24 is overlapped by a horizontally disposed guide clip 21, which is attached against the outside face of the side wall IS. The guide clip limits the inward movement of the said upper portion of the latch, but will not prevent or interfere with the free vertical movements of the latch when such movement is imparted to the latter by the movements of the trap door to the opening and closing positions. The latch is constructed of strip material and is formed with a rearwardly inclined upper free end 28, and with a pair of notches on the'outward edge thereof, as respectively indicated at 29 and 30.

The notch 29 is generally squared and elongated, and is disposed at the upper end of the latch 24. The notch 30 is substantially V-shaped and is disposed directly below and adjacent to the squared notch 29. Both of the notches 29, 30, open in the forward direction.

A pair of laterally projecting, vertically aligned locking pins, respectively indicated at 3| and 32, are fixed in the outside face of the side wall I5, and are positioned for engagement by the upper end wall of the squared notch 29, as shown in Figures 6 and 8.

The latch 24 normally inclines forwardly at an angle from the vertical on its connection on the pivoting bolt 25, whereby the upper end wall of the squared notch 29'will automatically shift and engage on the upper locking pin 3| by gravity action, when the trap door I9 is in the closed position, as illustrated in Figure 6. Such engagement of the locking pin 3| in the squared notch 29 will hold and secure the trap door in the closed position until the latch ismanually released from the locking pin 3| by the operation of a suitable conventional type of coin-controlled appliance 33.

The coin-controlled appliance 33 is suitably mounted in the casing structure I, with the outer end portion thereof being accessible to players from the foot end of the pool table. The coincontrolled appliance includes a horizontally shiftable coin slide 34, which latter is normally forced and maintained in its full outwardly projecting retracted position, by the normal action of a spiral spring 35, as illustrated in Figure 6. The spring is carried by the coin-controlled appliance and is attached to the inner end portion of the coin slide to tension when the latter is shifted inwardly during the release operation of theappliance. A suitable receptacle 36 for receiving the coins employed is provided in the casing structure and is disposed beneath the coin-controlled appliance.

In practice, the normal operation of the coincontrolled ball release mechanism isas follows: Assuming that the trap door I9 is secured in the closed position by the engagement of the upper locking pin 3| in the squared notch 29, as shown in Figure 6, the player beings the game with all of th object balls uponthe pool table in the usual manner. It will be obvious that when any one. of the object balls enter any one of the pockets |3 of the pool table, said pocketed ball willtravel singly by. gravity roll.from.the. involved pocket, through. respective. conveying tubes 2, outwardly along the low center of the reception gully 5, through. theball opening l4, onto and through the sifter rails 22, and will be deposited and collected on the trap door l9 ofthe trapping chamber 4. If the cue ball should inadvertently or otherwise be pocketed during play, said cue ball will be automatically returned to the exposed delivery box 3, in the manner herein before described, and can be taken from the latter by the player for continuing play.

Upon completion of a game, all of the object balls with have been collected upon the trap door ,IS in the trapping chamber 4. To release the trapped object balls from the trapping chamber for a following game, a proper coin is inserted in the usual aperture provided therefor in the appliance 33, while the coin slide 34 is in its normal, retracted, outwardly projecting position, as shown in Figure 6. After such insertion of the coin, the slide 34 is manually pushed inwardly to the maximum extent. During the inward travel of the coin slide the inner end thereof will engage in the V-shaped lower notch 30 and shift the latch 24 inwardly, on its pivotal connection, a distance to cause the release of the squared notch 29, in the latch, from the upper locking pin 3|, and engaging it on the inner end of the coin slide to prevent the latch from rising to the locking position again, until the coin slide has been sufiiciently retracted. During the travel of the coin slide 34, the inserted coin will be released and drop into the coin receptacle 36 in the usual manner.

Upon release of the latch 24, in the manner stated, the weight of the trapped object balls on the outer end portion of the trap door l9 will cause the outer end portion of the latter to overbalance the inner end portion of the trap door and swing downwardly to the open position, as shown in Figure 7, and thus serve as a chute to quickly discharge all of the trapped obiect balls into the exposed and accessible delivery box 3.

It will be noted that during the descent of the outer end portion of the trap door I!) to the open position on its pivotal connection with the shaft 20, the latch 24, having its lower end pivotally connected with said outer end portion, will shift downwardly with the latter. During such downward movement of the latch, the beveled angularly disposed upper wall of the lower notch 30 will shift against the engaging inner end of the coin slide 34 and thereby shift the latch still further inwardly to assure the clearance of the locking pins 3|, 32, by the latch while the latter is shifting in the downward direction during the opening movement of the trap door.

After the discharge of the object balls from the trap door |9, and the coin s ide has retracted, the trap door will automatically be returned to the closed position by the action of the overbalancing weight of its own inner end portion. During the upward closing movement of the trap door, the latch 24 will shift upwardly therewith, and, due to the angular free end 28 of said latch, the latter will automatically clear the locking pins 3|, 32, during such upward movement. Upon reaching the limit of its upward movement, the normally forwardly inclining latch will automatically shift forwardly by gravity action, thereby causing the reengagement of the upper end wall of the upper squared notch 29 on the locking pin 3| to again secure the trap door in the closed position for repeated subsequent ball trapping operations.

The opening, discharging, closing, and securing operations of the trap door I9 is effected almost instantaneously, if the operator quickly releases the coin slide 34 to cause the latter to quickly clear the latch 24. If, for any reason, the retraction movement of the coin slide is pro tracted, the closing movement of the trap door will be merely halted by the engagement of the lower end wall of the upper notch 29 against the engaging inner end of the coin slide, and will remain so until the coin slide has been sufficiently retracted to allow the completion of the trap door closing operation and the consequent upward travel of the latch to allow the latter to reengage the upper locking pin 3| and thereby secure the trap door in the closed position in the manner described.

The manipulation or operation of the mechanism by illicit methods is prevented by the provision of the lower locking pin 32, by the size, spacing, location, and contours of the notches 29 and 30, by the distance the coin slide 34 can be freely inserted before the latch 24 disengages the locking pin engaged, and by the distance the coin slide can be freely retracted before it disengages the upper squared notch 29 of the latch.

At about the limit of the inward travel of the coin slide in most of this type of coin-controlled appliances, it is possible to idly shift the coin slide back and forth a distance of approximately one-half inch. If such is the case, and the lower notch 30 were omitted or not provided with a forwardly inclining upper wall, it would be possible to sufficiently retract the coin slide to clear the upper notch 29 without going through any of the outwardly moving stages of the coin slide. The player could then wedge or otherwise secure the coin slide in such partially retracted position until he completed the next game, and then shift the coin slide inwardly far enough to disengage the latch from the upper locking pin 3 I, and thus obtain free games.

This procedure could be repeated indefinitely. after the insertion of the first coin. However, as the inclined upper Wall of the lower notch 30 functions to force the latch 24 far enough inwardly to preclude the execution and accomplishment of such illlicit operation of the mechanism.

Employing any known means and methods to prevent the proper secured closing of the trap door l9 by the engagement of upper notch 29 on the upper locking pin 3|, will invariably produce the above-described condition. The result of such illicit operational attempts is that the mechanism then requires two coins, instead of the usual one coin, to effect the release of all of the object balls for use in the next game. The first coin is required to operate the coin appliance to discharge one or two balls that managed to enter the trapping chamber 4, and the second coin is required to again operate the appliance to release the object balls that were blocked in the reception gully 3 by the operative position of the stop rod 2| in the ball opening M in the gully outer wall 8. Thus a penalty is established for such illicit attempts that is obviously conducive to discourage and minimize the latter.

Since it is desirable to discharge the balls from the trapping chamber 4 quickly into the accessible delivery box 3, so the said balls are quickly available for the next game, it is necessary to expose the front edge of the trap door l9. Such exposure might invite someone to tamper with it with the view of obtaining free play.

Assuming a small impediment like a wad of gum were placed upon the top of the outer end of the trap door I9, the latter would not close completely, and consequently the latch 24 could not awzaaaa be engaged in the securing position on the upper locking pin 3 l,but would be in apositionbringing the: outwardly disposed nose of upper Wall of the upper notch 29 in contact with the inner side of said upper locking pin, whereby said latch and the trap door are both unsecured.

Under such conditions, were it notfor the lower locking pin 32, each time two object balls have entered the trapping chamber 4 to overbalance the trap door i 9, the latter opens and discharges said balls in pairs into the accessible delivery box 3. Such operation would be repeated over and over indefinitely. However, due to the provision and location of the lower locking pin 32, the upper end wall of the upper notch 29 will automatically engage on the said lower locking pin, as soon as the first two balls have entered the trapping chamber to impose sufficient weight upon the trap-doorl9 to partially open the latter, as clearly illustrated in Figure 8.

The opening, resulting from such partially open trap door, is-not sufficient to allow the first two trapped balls to pass therethrough into the delivery box 3, but the movement of the trap door to the partially open position is sufiicient to elevate the stop rod 2| into the ball opening I4 to thereby block all of the following balls from leaving the reception gully 5. To release all of the balls, when so trapped and blocked, the two-time, two-coin operation of the coin-controlled applian'ce 33 isnecessary, in the manner hereinbefore described. I

A suitable side plate 31 is removably attached to the casing structure to enclose the inner portion of the coin-controlled appliance 33, the coin receptacle 36, and the latch 24 together with its associated parts, so that these elements will not be exposed to tampering by unauthorized persons.

A- chute 38 is fixed in the casing structure, and has its entrance accessible from the foot end ofthe pool table; The chute is positioned to direct the cue ball into the trapping chamber 4; to prevent the possible loss of said cue ball While the pool table is not in use. Such trapped cue ball will, of course, be discharged into the delivery box 3', together with all of the object balls, when the coin-controlled appliance is operated, in the manner described, for the next game to be played.

Itwill here be noted that the improved ball release mechanism is entirely operated and actuated by gravity action, and that except for the spring 35' which is embodied in the coin-controlled appliance 33 itself, no springs of an kind are employed. Further, but one movement, that is; the opening of the trap door I9, is necessary to quickly discharge all of the'pool balls from the trapping chamber 4 into the discharge box 3;

8 These are novel and important features condu' cive to the effective, positive, and facile operation of the mechanism. All known, analogous mechanisms involve multiple and intricate spring actu ated and controlled movements and operations.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and method of operation of the in vention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and it will be evident that the invention provides a most durable and efficient device of its kind, whichzmaybei economically constructed, and con.- veniently and successfully employed for the purposes and in the manner herein set forth.

What I claim is:

1. In a coin-controlled ball release mechanism for a pool table, a casing structure including a trap door, and a latch constructed of strip material disposed in the upright position and having the: lower. end thereof pivotally connected with said door tov shift with the latter, the upper free end of said latch being inclined rearwardly, said latch being provided with a pair of outwardly opening notches formed in the outer side edge thereof, one of said pair of notches being elongated and substantially squared and being disposed adjacent to upper end of said latch, the other of said pair of notches being disposed below and adjacent to said upper notch and having an outwardly inclined upper wall.

2. In a coin-controlled ball release mechanism for a pool table, an upright disposed latch having the lower end thereof pivotally connected with the mechanism, said latch being formed with an inwardly inclined free upper end, said latch being provided with a pair of outwardly opening notches on the outer side edge thereof, the upper of said. notches disposed adjacent to the upper end of said latch and being substantially squared to provide straight end walls, the lower of said notches being disposed below and adjacent to said upper notch and having an outwardly inclined upper wall.

PIERRE F. WILHEM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file or" this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 713,806 Williams May 21,- 1929 1,756,313 Taffe Apr. 29, 1930 1,938,265 Thomas Dec. 5, 1933 2,242,392 Guy May 20, 1941 

